MVPs on the Field Are Least Valued on the Sidelines

Although Black and White athletes together are contributing to the success of college sports teams that play in the top championship bowls, on the field is where the winning occurs for Black athletes. Off the playing field, they lose. In the classroom, statistics suggest that Black athletes are being left behind and forgotten while their White counterparts move up and out. Sadly, graduation rates between Black and White athletes at top NCAA colleges are marred by a growing divide. White athletes are matriculating through these colleges and universities at rates that far surpass those of Black athletes.

According to MSNBC.com, top-ranked Ohio State University has one of the lowest rates for graduating Black athletes, with only 32 percent of its Black players graduating. Yet, overall, the university graduates 80 percent of its athletes, with a whopping 85 percent graduation rate for White football players. The article goes on to talk about how new academic standards are being introduced to increase graduation rates, even noting that schools are shying away from admitting low-achieving students solely based on their athletic prowess. Of course, high standards are to applauded. However, there is nothing about helping the struggling Black athletes who are currently scoring on the field, earning prestige and accolades for their schools, but are not on target to graduate with their White peers. Its as if it’s acceptable that no academic support mechanisms are being implemented to help the struggling players.

It seems that the colleges and universities in question are content to address this issue as if race is not the determining factor in a significant number of athletes’ academic success. Apparently, the NCAA has issued a written statement that says, among other things, that a higher level of achievement in the overall academic success of student athletes is “critical, because very few of them will become professional athletes.” While this is true, what they fail to realize is that the Black athletes, in particular, need a strong academic background and to earn a degree to compete in a society that is systemically dismantling affirmative action in hiring practices, and in which Black men still trail behind Whites in earning potential and advancement in the workplace. Since only a small percentage of the Black athletes that compete at the college level will go on to the pros, they cannot afford to fail academically and walk into the world without a sports career and without a college degree.

The answer is not to deny opportunity to qualified Black athletes. Rather, the solution to this trend in top bowl schools lies in reaching out and providing much-needed assistance to Black athletes including mentoring, tutoring, and other programs to help them excel. During slavery, Black men were used for the physical strength, placed in the fields to work like animals, but not allowed or encouraged to learn. Today, Black athletes are recruited, trained, and exploited for their athletic ability but ignored and left behind in the classroom. Is history repeating itself? You make the call.

Black Firefighter Cries Foul, Not Wolf

Controversy swirling around a Los Angeles fireman seeking justice because his dinner was laced with dog food stirs curiosity and raises eyebrows as we struggle to ascertain whether the incident was, indeed, racially motivated. The firefighters who committed the unpalatable prank were White; and, Tennie Pierce, the L.A. firefighter who filed a discrimination suit, is Black. The burning question: were the motives or intent of this disgusting action really racial? Or, as some suggest, is Pierce just crying wolf, playing the “race card” in hopes of a major payoff?

Initially, the L.A. city council voted to pay Pierce $2.7 million in hush money just to keep the case from every seeing the inside of a courtroom. Yet, Mayor Villaraigosa vetoed the settlement. At a most recent council meeting, according to the Los Angeles Times, all three Black L.A. city council members also voted against any settlement payment to Pierce for fear that the act “could be viewed as racist.”

Was Pierce just an unsuspecting victim of a firehouse tradition that, unfortunately, includes hazing at all levels? Considering the fact that the department has been under fire and sued in the past for subjecting Blacks to hostile conditions, the odds are against it. Though Pierce admitted to participating in such pranks in the past, he said that they were “good-natured,” and the men would hug when it was over. However, when Pierce was deceived into eating dog food, he was completely unaware and no apologies or conciliatory gestures were offered. Blogger Jasmyne Cannick eloquently points out that “it’s clear that Pierce participated on other pranks, but that doesn’t mean that he couldn’t be the victim of racial discrimination. If I follow their logic, then I’d also have to agree that a prostitute couldn’t get raped.”

In an emotional statement, Pierce recalls that his mother worked three jobs to support his family and not once did she ever feed them dog food. Pierce said White firefighters watched him eat the dog food and when he complained to superiors, he was ignored. Though we may never know the true intent of the White firefighters who reveled as Pierce consumed the tainted meal, breaking news of Fire Chief William Bamattre’s impending resignation makes the history of racial tension that has plagued the department difficult to ignore. The Los Angeles Black Firefighters Association has been fighting and complaining about the racism in the fire department for years. Given these facts, the odds are in Pierce’s favor that his discrimination claim is a legitimate instance of racially motivated foul play.